Silver Creek Nursery Ltd.

Northern Spy Apple Scionwood

Scionwood is not a tree, yet!

Scionwood, or scions (pronounced 'sigh-ons'), are the young, one-year shoots you graft with in order to propagate a variety. If you want to propagate a Gala apple tree, for example, you would graft with Gala scionwood!

We collect these scions from trees in our test orchards and are happy to be able to offer rare/heritage varieties!

For more information on scionwood and grafting, click HERE!

History: Northern Spy was first discovered in New York around 1800. It tends to be irregularly shaped and bruises easily, so it is not a popular commercial apple but it is still commonly grown in certain regions in the States today. It is featured in several poems and in 1953 a box of Northern Spy apples was sent to Senator Joseph McCarthy by the Toronto Globe and Mail during his infamous hunt for 'communist spies.' 

Why We Grow It: Northern Spy apples are juicy with a balanced sweet-tart honeyed flavour, although they do tend to bruise easily due to their thin skin. To make up for that, they are known for making wonderful pies. The trees are cold hardy and vigorous.

      $8.50

      Propagation Material:

      Out of stock

      Fruit Traits:

      Recommended Use: Fresh eating, cooking, baking

      Fruit Size: Large

      Storage: Keeps until May when stored in cold storage

      Harvest: October - Late

      Plant Traits:

      Canadian Hardiness Zone: 4

      Flowering Time: Late

      Pollination Requirements: Requires a pollinator of a different apple variety that blooms around the same time

      Sun/Shade Requirements: Full sun (approx. 8-10 hours of sun daily)

      General Growth Habit: Partially tip-bearing, moderately vigorous with an upright growth pattern, slow to start bearing fruit and tends to have good crops every other year. Susceptible to cedar rust, scab, bitter pit, mildew, fireblight, and quince rust, but resistant to woolly aphid. Despite the recorded susceptibilities, this variety has not shown particular susceptibility to them in our orchard - another tribute to holistic orcharding, and/or an adage to the fact that just because a tree is susceptible to something, doesn't mean it will get it.

      Shipping: Scionwood can be shipped anytime in the spring, although we generally recommend that customers receive their scionwood by mid-April at the latest to ensure it arrives dormant. We can hold it longer if customers accept the risk that the scionwood may start breaking dormancy after this time.

      Pickup: We will notify you as soon as your scionwood is ready. We recommend picking it up as soon as you are able and storing it at home.

      Click HERE for tips on storing scionwood!

      CLICK HERE to see our shipping policy.

      Each scion will have at least 2-4 grafts' worth of material and ideally will be approximately 12-18" or 30cm+ long. Since we specialize in so many varieties/species, there will be natural differences in growth habit and vigour so some varieties may be shorter or thinner. We will provide the best quality we can, within natural restraints.

      If a scion is less than 6" or 15cm, it will be discounted accordingly.

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